As I have read, discussed, shopped, and nearly pulled my hair out about  *perish the thought!*  I thought I'd bring this up in here:

I can't manage to go to an all CO routine wash.  I precondition with JoJoba oil, then wet the hair down and condition the length with light (suave) conditioner, and wash the scalp with 1/2 and 1/2 shampoo and co (suave again), rinse out, then follow with a thicker co to the length.  This is working out great for me, but here's my question:

I want, need, must have a milder shampoo!  The one I'm using I absolutely adore (silk elements moisturizing) but it has those awful sodium lauryl sulfates... in fact, I CANNOT find a shampoo in Sally's beauty supply without SLS!

Gah!

So... does anyone know of a SLS free shampoo that I could likely find at Sally's, a beauty salon, or drugstore?  Or... does anyone have a recipe for homemade shampoo sans SLS?  

I'm so freaked out about this because I actually read an article that links SLS in long term use with alzeheimers (I know I'm spelling that incorrectly.. excuse me)!  Eeek!

Any help would be MOST appreciated.

I'm going to stay away from recommending products for the time being, but, of course, you can read my journal  ;D.

Have you taken a look at Anais' Medusa's Lair - very good website and lovely information.  You can find her under the journals section and all over the board.

I'm sure many will come in with ideas ...g

:o :o :o :o :o :o scary, very scary i'm hoping that this is not very accurate. actually i'm praying  :( :( :(

Have you tried SLES? Sodium Laureth Sulfate?
There are plenty of shampoos with SLES, which is much much gentler than SLS(lauryl). L'Oreal Kids (SLES) is gentle, as is Paul Mitchell "The Shampoo".

Anais

Sodium Laureth Sulfate?  Hrrm.. no, I haven't looked for that.. thanks for the idea, Anais!

Honestly, companies only put SLS in the shampoo because it helps it "suds"  and for some reason we've associated "bubbles" with "clean"....

I've just made a concious effort to be more healthy, and maybe.. readjust myself to a "greener" lifestyle.   Overprocessing is everywhere in our lives, in our food, in the things we put on ourselves, our children, what we use to clean our house.. the list goes on and on and the more I see the adverse affects of said overprocessing and chemicals, the more I guess I want to be a hermit.  ;D  Okay, I was teasing about that last part...

personally, i can't even stand sles, it's still harsh in my opinion.
the only shampoos i found so far that do not trigger any scalp itching are:
¤Phyto Panama (with 65% panama wood),
¤Leonor Greyl's honey shampoo (the gentlest shampoo i found so far, nothing in it even closely ressembles sls nor sles! but it makes my hair totally straight and flat, i put that on the honey, my darl' loves it though) &
¤LG's creamy shampoo for long hair with bamboo (this one has  - what i think is - an "alkylated sles": it's bigger and thus less reactive and probably doesn't enter skin as easily) - i like this one especially since my hair seems to behave as if it was co'd.
unfortunately i am not sure leonor greyl is easy to find in the us and even if you'd find it, it's not exactly cheap boohoo.
but i think phyto stuff can be found.

You could try a soap based shampoo too. They should be available at health food stores.
  I'm still in love with my shampoo bars from ChagrinCraft. They're also soap-based, all natural (basically made of saponified oils, EOs and herbs only) and so mild that I haven't needed a conditioner.  :o You can order them via internet, they are reasonably priced (also sample sizes available) and service is great.

However, if the water in your area is hard, it's likely that no soap based shampoos (whether liquid or solid) will give you the results they want.
Additionally, if you try soap based shampoos, it's wise not to rotate them with detergent based shampoos- there is an adjustment period before the soap based shampoos show their best, and I'm not sure if you can ever get there if you keep using detergent shampoos regularly. You can, however, rotate between different soap based shampoos if that's what you like.

If your water is hard the only think to help that is a salon  clarifing shampoo to remove the build up, then follow with a moisture base conditioner.
You should get an immediate result.
this shampoo should only be used 1 x every two weeks

Novusfemina, do you have any health food stores nearby?  They have organic products that usually do not contain SLSs.  Some also don't contain parabens and cones.  

Cynde

CO didn't work well for me either.  I CWC and as a no sulphate shampoo, I use Chagrin Valley Shampoo Bars.  Here is the link...

http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/

I love they way they make my hair feel.  It is soft and squeaky clean.  Many do not have to condition after, but I do...my hair is just too fine and tangle without conditioner.

Give them a try.  Ida is wonderful, the customer service is top notch.  You might want to try the soaps as well.  Have fun!!